I imagine there was a similar reaction at the Daily Record office in Glasgow and some of the newsrooms of various regional titles too.

Bailey's 10-year reign has been unpopular among journalists almost from its beginning. In recent years, after continual rounds of cutbacks, the editorial mood has darkened. A couple of tweets last night said "good riddance."

Not that Bailey appeared to care. She was a numbers person, interested only in the bottom line.

As far as she was concerned, the only way to save the company was to cut, cut and cut again.

The problem, of course, was that each cut tended to reduce editorial quality at TM's papers. That hurt sales, thus reducing revenue and necessitating still further cuts.

It would be naive to deny that the Trinity Mirror she inherited was in need of rationalisation. A lot of the early reorganisation was sensible and, by extension, some of the cost-cutting was undoubtedly justified.

It also cannot be denied that, in company with other publishers, she was operating in a maturing market at a time of recession and amid a technological revolution. The "perfect storm" cliché is relevant.

But Bailey never got to grips with the central contradiction of the company she inherited. There is no synergy between national newspapers and regional/local newspapers.

The trouble was clear from the moment the regional publisher Trinity acquired Mirror Group in 1999 in what was wrongly called a merger.

At the time, Trinity - as with other regional groups - was riding the crest of a profitable wave. At the helm was chief executive Philip Graf, a veteran of regional management but without any grasp of the different emphasis required in running national papers.

And yes, there is a difference, a big difference. The competition between the owners and editors of national papers is completely unlike the faux competition between regional groups.

Graf liked to make disingenuous jokes at his own expense about being an unsophisticated import to London from the provinces. In fact, the joke was on him.

His three-year stewardship of Trinity Mirror was not disastrous but it did graphically illustrate that the locking together of a national and regional group was of no particular benefit to either.

When Bailey took over in 2003, she carried out a strategic review and - far from seeing the value of divorcing the two constituent parts - concluded that they would be stronger together.

Indeed, she thought more integration was required and appeared baffled that her predecessor had not managed to achieve greater economies of scale.

What she did not grasp, as Graf had realised belatedly, was that there were very few benefits to locking together the Trinity bit and the Mirror bit.

I recall a lunch from that period in which Bailey spoke of her programme for change in terms of a catchy slogan: stabilise, revitalise and grow.

As a sceptical publishing veteran told me earlier this week, two days before Bailey resigned, she failed to achieve any of the three.

Mirror has been 'cut to ribbons'

Over the past decade my major concern has been for the state of the Daily Mirror. My affection for the paper goes back to my youth and I spent a short period more than 20 years ago as its editor. I also happened to hire its current editor, Richard Wallace.

Having also worked for every other popular national title, especially The Sun, I know how difficult it is to compete on a daily basis. The old Fleet Street ethos of cutthroat competition is still evident.

What the Mirror requires is an owner - or, in corporate terms, a chief executive - who is genuinely passionate about the paper. It must be a person who understands its mission and who is therefore willing to give its editorial staff consistent support.

That person must react quickly to developments in the market-place and not allow competitors, such as Rupert Murdoch, Richard Desmond and Lord Rothermere, to enjoy a free ride.

A flagship national title needs constant attention. In truth, it needs love. Historically, that was the Mirror's strength, even under that most mercurial and monstrous of publishers, Robert Maxwell.

What often counts more than a business strategy are tactics. Even if we accept that a paper is a business, it is not like any other business. Despite her publishing background, Bailey did not seem to grasp this, or was not interested.

So the Mirror has been cut to ribbons. I understand that most of the Mirror executives, in concert with senior staff at the TM's other unloved titles - Sunday Mirror, The People, Daily Record and Sunday Mail - have registered their despair in recent months.

If the current Trinity board under its new chairman, David Grigson, really want to do something valuable, they should consider splitting Trinity Mirror in two.

They should seek an owner for the national titles - possibly the three in London, if not the pair in Scotland - who is prepared to spend the necessary funds to give them one last chance at revival.

It isn't too late. Note this key fact. The nationals division generates 60% of group revenue and 79.4% of its profit.

They are liquid. The situation could yet be turned around. The Mirror is very different from the days when I ran it. And, under me, it was very different from the first time I worked there in 1971.

Papers develop and veterans like me have a tendency to look back and imagine things were better back in the day.

But the Mirror, given the right ownership - given love - could still offer proper competition to The Sun, especially in view of its own current problems.

As for Trinity's regional business, it is difficult to imagine a willing buyer just now, or at least one prepared to offer a decent sum.

What the TM board need to do at this landmark moment is to decide what they are in business for: to manage decline or to build a 21st century business. (First off, by the way, they should eject Bailey from Canary Wharf as swiftly as possible - and not pay her a vast sum either).

Finally, I haven't even touched on what the company does about the net. I'm not ignoring that crucial factor. I am just urging the post-Bailey board to think about giving the printed Mirror titles one last chance.